DX18! I want one!!!

[firemanbill]

Wow!

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...8000&view=test

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by firemanbill

Wow!

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...8000&view=test

H'mmmm
Lets see, 18 channels? With my usual 6 channels per model, I cound fly three models at the same time

[firemanbill]

Originally Posted by kyleservicetech

H'mmmm
Lets see, 18 channels? With my usual 6 channels per model, I cound fly three models at the same time

LOL! Yeah I don't need it either.. but it is really cool!

[crxmanpat]

18 channels is good for the guys that fly big planes with multiple servos per control surface, or planes with lots of features, or big jets with gear door sequencing, things like that. Running stuff like that, you'd be surprised how fast 18 channels can get used.

$800 is not a bad price point. Look at Futaba, they want almost $3K. But I'm going to get the new XPS 18-ch radio when it comes out in a few months, only $250.

[stuart]

i'm no expert, 18 channels.......lol


but i do need one! 50 plane memory ,a great reason to build more planes...a lot more.

[rcers]

Back from the dead....

Well I splurged and bought the DX18 late last week - it came yesterday. O my - is it going to be fun! I miss touch screen of the A9 but it looks like everything else is MORE than covered. And I have so many BNF planes Spektrum is just the right choice for me.

Just started to play with it now. Very happy so far.

Now setting up 20+ airplanes on the new system YIKES - I am a sick puppy.

Mike

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Congratulations Mike,
I'm officially very jealous. I did look at the DX18 but I could get the DX8 for 1/3rd of the price, and the '8' did all I needed and more, so in the end my head ruled my heart and I got the '8'.

The 18 does look like an awesome piece of kit though....

Steve

[rcers]

Steve I went back and forth on that very issue. The two items that put me over - dedicated sailplane programing and sliders. I can't believe the 8 didn't have sliders!

I guess their evil upgrade plot worked......

One other slight - was the fixed antenna's. I just really like the beefy fixed antenna.

Mike

[JetPlaneFlyer]

The sliders is an issue that bugs me a little too. I've got a 25 year old Futaba Tx that has them! The only explanation on the '8' not having sliders is, as you say, to deliberatly hold back features to encourage people to spend more, an evil plot for sure (though all manufacturers do it of course).

End of the day though i dont need sliders for my current fleet so it is something I can live with.

[pilotpete2]

The DX18 only has 12 channels available for control surfaces. Channels 13-18 are of low resolution and high latency.
Pete

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Originally Posted by pilotpete2

The DX18 only has 12 channels available for control surfaces. Channels 13-18 are of low resolution and high latency.
Pete

The other channels are 512 resolution as opposed to the first ten which are 1024 or 2048. Bear in mind that 512 resolution used to be standard on all radios not so many years ago and is still standard on lower end transmitters (Dx5 for instance), and yet people used to and still do manage to fly perfectly well with those 'low resolution' transmitters

Bottom line though you would be very hard pressed to dream up ten independent primary control surfaces that could be installed on one plane. The other 8 will cover stuff like retracts, lights, bomb drop, brakes etc etc that don't benefit at all from super high resolution.

[pilotpete2]

It's more than the resolution, there is also slower response time on those channels. Yes, there are many uses for those extra 6 channels in complex scale models with many accessory functions. Flaps and speed brakes are another function where the low resolution channels would be useable, but they cannot be used in the manner that giant scale aerobatic planes require, where multiple servos are used on a common control surface, an example being 2 or even 3 ganged servos for the rudder.
Pete

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Originally Posted by pilotpete2

but they cannot be used in the manner that giant scale aerobatic planes require, where multiple servos are used on a common control surface, an example being 2 or even 3 ganged servos for the rudder.
Pete

If you were 'ganging' servos together then surely the control signals would all be split from one channel?

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Pete,
FWIW even the mighty Futaba T18MZ (which is over four times the price of the DX18) is limited to 12 channels if you want to run servos in high resolution/low latency mode (Futaba call it FASSTest 12CH mode).

If I were to hazard a guess on the reasoning behind this limitation I'd say that its probably a fundamental limit of how much data you can transfer over a 2.4Ghz link and not a brand specific issue.

[pilotpete2]

True, 12 ch FASSTest has better latency than the 18 channel mode, an important consideration for high performance Heli pilots, but resolution is the same, and all channels are of equal performance, even in the 18 channel mode. Yes, the 18MZ is a lot of money, but no other radio can do what it does. As for myself, I would neither pay that much for a radio, nor would I ever need that much radio.
My 8FG costs a lot less than the DX18, and for IMAC and GS aerobatic models it has the same 12 ch proportional ability for running ganged servos as the DX18 would have, plus two on/off channels for stuff like retracts and ignition kill.
Futaba did the same deal when they upgraded the 8Fg to 14 channels. Futaba did the same thing in the 8FG, where they left the original 12+2 format in the software to allow lower latency when the extra channels are not being used.
Pete

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Guess it's all bang for buck at the end of the day. It would be unreasonable to expect quite the same features and performance from a $750 Tx as you get in a $3500 Tx

We all have our budgets and needs. At the price I paid (equiv of $285 US) for the Tx, three receivers and a telemetry unit, all brand new, I'm delighted with my relatively humble DX8. It does more than I need or am likely to need, a slider or two would have been nice but for the price I'm not complaining.

[pilotpete2]

Sounds like you got a smoking deal on your DX8
On this side of the Pond the 18MZ lists for $2999.99, but you can get some much better deals, but still waaaay too much for me and my flying needs
Pete

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Originally Posted by pilotpete2

Sounds like you got a smoking deal on your DX8

Yes, I got lucky on an eBay auction They are a good bit more than that list price.

I was guessing at the 18MZ price as I've never seriously looked at one, way out of my range, but if money was no object